Persona 3: A Novelization
by RionAgrias
Summary: A P3 Novelization that follows a Nocturne-like battle system. 2 OCs that were created based on request. It follows the storyline as close as it should. Same beginning and same ending. Review if you feel like it.


Chapter 1 of the FES Saga

I own nothing of Persona 3 FES or SMT. Atlus owns them.

There are original characters (created by request) as I can place multiple scenes in at once, but usually I focus on Minato. Minato Arisato is the MC and it follows the story line as best as it can.

Pairings… well, figure it out.

There will be no Novelization: Answer. I doubt I will do an Answer: Answer either.

Why am I posting this right now with my schedule? I already had this created over a year ago.

* * *

Frigid was not a word normally used to describe an April evening in Port Tatsumi, but regardless, it wasn't warm enough in this area of Japan than the typical average for the past few years. As the weatherman had predicted, it had been cloudy for most of the day, with the clouds only passing late at night. The moon was barely a week from becoming full as it shown bright and beautiful.

The moon was slowly being drowned out by lights in the commercial city. Port Tatsumi was a bustling and active place, even at night. It had grown quickly, even though it had been founded not that long ago. It was a commercialized city that had seemingly sprung up out of nowhere.

An Arisato Minato was headed for his train to take him to Iwatodai. Minato had short blue hair with a part on his left side and grey eyes. He was wearing his clothes he'd be wearing for his schooling, why, he didn't know. The dark pants and white shirt with the dark over shirt, and an ugly belt. His parents had died here around ten years ago, and here he was, coming back now. He was usually pretty indifferent to everything, but he wasn't so sure about coming back to Port Tatsumi. He had been shuffled from foster family to foster family after living in an orphanage for a few years. Knowing this was the place where his parents and his twin sister died was a little creepy, and it was just a little foreboding to be here. "Why do I have to be here of all places?"

Minato pushed it out of his head as he walked down the street. He had his MP3 player on, so he couldn't hear all of the people talking around him on the stairs and walking around the streets. "What!" "You're going to buy what!" "That's incredible!" "Hey! Did you hear about the new idol!" Minato didn't even notice the idol on the large lit screen modeling some swimsuit.

Minato always loved techno music. He didn't care for much other than the occasional soft rap, or easy going rock. He couldn't stand some of that other crap they advertised all of the time. Minato continued his walk to the rail (monorail), which would take him to the new dorm where he would be living for the next couple of years. He would be finishing school at Port Tatsumi.

* * *

A young girl was sitting in a dorm, a gun of all things near her. She had long, flowing brown hair, a pink blouse, and a short blouse that accentuated her long legs. The faucet was running in the background, and she sounded and looked clearly distressed.

* * *

Minato kept walking through towards his residence. He was now at a mall, of all things. He saw an arcade. He thought to himself, "What a waste of time. What can be gained by going to an arcade? Can you get smarter? More courageous?" Minato passed a café with people sipping coffee, and making out. "Get a room, you aren't that charming,"

Minato shook his head in time with the music and cut a path through the people. Minato crossed the street up to the mono, and got his ticket, ignoring the clowns and other people who were walking around later than they should be.

* * *

That girl was still there, hyperventilating. She had taken that gun and put it up to her forehead. If possible, her breathing had gotten heavier as she brought the gun to her head. The faucet was still running as she pushed the barrel up her forehead up and tried to pull the trigger and failed. The gun slipped from her hands and fell to the floor. Her dark brown eyes filled with fear as the gun landed near her bare feet.

* * *

You could hear the wheels screech on the tracks of the rails as Minato was on the rail. His head raised suddenly as the vibrations rang over the sound of his music. He looked around; there was almost no one else on the rail with him. There was maybe one other person in the car with him. "Maybe returning from a late shift of work, perhaps," Minato thought to himself.

An announcement rang through the cars.

"Attention passengers… We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by the delay. Next stop is… Iwatodai Station"

Minato drowned out the announcement by turning up the volume on his MP3 player and stared out the window, just taking in the sights. It was an interesting looking city to Minato, and he supposed he better get an idea of what it looked like, considering he'd be living here for a while.

Nearby, a small blue butterfly fluttered in the distance. It was headed in the same direction Minato was.

As Minato stepped off the rail, the lady announcer this time said, "This is the last stop, Iwatodai… Iwatodai…" Minato checked his phone as he was leaving the station. It was about to hit Midnight. The clock above the station said, 11:59:56, 57, 58, 59, 00. As Minato was listening to his music, his player suddenly stopped. He noticed that all of the electronically screens that displayed when the trains were going back and forth had gone out as well. The ticketing screens and the ATMs had shut down too. Basically everything had shut down in the area.

Minato gasped slightly as all the lights in the station went out. Minato shook his head and sighed, "Well that sucks… I guess there is a power outage. And to imagine that the batteries on my MP3 player went out at the exact same time as that. Who could have imagined?"

Minato realigned the bag on his shoulder and left the station, following the directions towards his dorm. As he crossed the street, he tried to ignore the fact that the moon had an eerie yellow glow to it, that there was no traffic even at this hour, and that there were coffins all over the place. Coffins! "What the hell were coffins doing here!" Minato wondered, "They're upright! Either this was an epic convention, or one hell of a funeral."

Even though he was slightly unnerved by the situation, Minato lowered his eyes and continued to follow the directions to what would be his new living quarters. He stopped as he had arrived at a large multi-story dorm. It was reddish, and at least five stories. It had prim and proper windows with fancy framing. Even the door looked expensive. "Who pays for all of this?" Minato wondered, "Whoever supports this school is loaded. Oh yeah, isn't there a rich conglomerate funding this place?"

Minato placed his hand on the door handle, which seemed to be made of marble. Marble! He was surprised it wasn't made of ivory. The inside foyer wasn't too shabby either. There was a TV, a reception area with a computer, and a study table. He noticed the couches near the TV with a coffee table in the middle, and the bar near the back. "Not bad at all," Minato said. There was a glass separation cutting across the TV to parts of the table and stairway. There were potted plants on both sides of the door. They were real. There was nothing Minato wouldn't believe, "Where's the fountain that's shooting gold?" he wondered as he looked around one more time as he took off his MP3 player. It wasn't playing anyways.

As he took it off, he heard a voice off to his left, "You're late." it said, "I've been waiting a long time for you."

Minato took a look at who said that. It was a child sitting at the reception area. He looked like he came out a prison by his striped clothing. He had blue hair just like Minato. He was looking curiously at Minato with his elbows on the table and the back of his wrists resting on his chins. Minato had a great urge to rub his eyes and make sure he wasn't seeing a ghost. "This day is really getting weird," he was thinking.

The weird little kid snapped his fingers and said, "Now if you want to proceed…" He had suddenly appeared in front of Minato.

"Holy shit! How'd he do that!" Minato was silently freaking out.

The kid looked towards a red dossier with an inkwell next to it. You'd think it was a hundred years old with that writing utensil.

"Please sign your name there," the boy pointed at the dossier, which had now opened to the first page, "It's a contract. Don't worry. All it says is that you'll accept full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff"

Minato's grey eyes stared straight into the boy's blue ones. "What the hell is this kid talking about! Contract! What kind of actions! Who cares what I'm doing while I'm here!" he was thinking. He wanted to chide the boy, but then again, he didn't really care. It wasn't like it was anything that mattered. It was probably some little kid's idea of a prank. But, what was he doing here this late at night?

He signed the stupid contract … Minato Arisato… The boy told him as he grabbed the folder, "No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears, or cover your eyes." The folder disappeared into thin air while he was folding it.

Minato muttered, "How the hell did he do that? And what is he talking about, escaping time?"

The boy was disappearing as well, and his final words were, "And so it begins," as he was fading away into the darkness.

The lights had gone out. Minato had wondered, "If all the lights had gone out everywhere else, why were the lights on here?" He shook his head as he muttered, "None of this makes sense."

He was staring at the drab brown study when he heard a high-pitched voice, "Who's there!" He turned his head in the direction of where the voice came from. It was a pretty girl in Minato's eyes. She seemed very surprised to see him here. She was a brown-haired girl with the pink blouse, and a very seductive short skirt with long black boots. Her deep brown eyes were piercing into Minato's and her right hand shifted towards a holster strapped to her thigh, a holster carrying a gun. Her hand slowly moved to it, shaking the whole time.

"What the…!" he exclaimed softly, trying not to provoke her.

She was the girl from before, and she was still hyperventilating. Just as she pulled the gun, she was stopped by another girl's voice, "Takeba! Wait!"

The girl now called Takeba turned suddenly as all the power had come back on, and a red-haired girl came into the picture. Minato sighed in relief that he wasn't going to be shot. But, he wasn't so sure about that when he looked at the new presence in the room. She was another very pretty girl with long red hair, a long black skirt and white blouse. Her red hair covered her left eye as it went all the way past her shoulders. She carried a gun too. "What is this, an execution!" he thought. Minato noticed that both of them had little red armbands on them as well. "It's a damn execution squad! What the hell have I gotten myself into?" he wondered.

The girl named Takeba nodded and smiled. She obviously was bipolar or something in Minato's eyes. She seemed happy now or something. But, when "Takeba" smiled, she looked really hot. So, this was a little unnerving for Minato. This other girl's expression was unmoving, like a robot. She seemed far too mature for Minato even if she was also incredibly pretty. He did not want to get on her bad side. Like this "Takeba" looked like she would have a meltdown first, this second girl would most likely carry out the job.

The redhead walked up to Minato and next to Yukari and her expression suddenly softened with a smile. She said to him, "I didn't think you'd arrive so late. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm."

The girl named Takeba asked, "Who's he?"

Mitsuru responded to her question, "He's a transfer student. It was a last minute decision to assign him here. He'll eventually be moved to a room in the boys' dorm."

Takeba looked at Mitsuru worriedly, "Is it okay for him to be here?"

"I guess we'll see," Mitsuru said with a calming smile. Mitsuru looked at Minato and said, "This is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you."

"Hey…," Yukari bowed slightly.

Minato responded, "Nice to meet you, Yukari."

"Uh, y… yeah," Yukari nervously responded. She bowed again, "Nice to meet you too."

"It's getting late, so you two should get some rest," Mitsuru advised the pair. She had a motherly tone, "Your room is on the second floor, at the end of the hallway. Your stuff should already be there."

Mitsuru looked at Yukari and Yukari said quickly, like she was out of line, "Oh… I'll show you the way. Follow me."

As Minato and Yukari started up the stairs, a white-haired boy with his hair almost cut just like Minato's except a little longer (he's not Akihiko!) passed them on the way down. He was wearing his school uniform and a hunter-green button-up underneath where the uniform was open. He nodded at Yukari, and looked at Minato strangely as he walked down.

"Who's he?" Minato asked.

"Umm… He goes to our school, and he's in your year too," Yukari answered.

"Oh…," Minato answered. He said with lackluster "That's interesting."

The pair made their way to the second floor, it wasn't exactly a long trip, and to the end of the hallway. Yukari stopped in front of his doorway. It wasn't exactly the most exciting and decorated area. It was brown and drab green with darkish windows.

Yukari said with a mock cheerfulness, "This is it." "Pretty easy to remember, huh?" she said with a smile, "Since its right at the end of the hall." Yukari suddenly got serious, "Oh yeah, make sure you don't lose your key, or you'll never hear the end of it."

"Got it. Don't lose key," Minato pretended to write it down.

Yukari looked at Minato after chuckling, "So, any questions?"

Minato decided to ask about that weird kid from earlier. The one that appeared and disappeared out of nowhere, "Does that weird kid live here too?"

This freaked Yukari out, "What kid! What are you talking about? C'mon, it's not funny."

Minato shook his head, "Never mind… It's just something I thought I saw."

"Okay…," Yukari said, not really believing him.

Yukari suddenly put her head down and asked Minato, "Um… Can I ask you something? On your way here from the station, was everything okay?"

"Yeah," Minato answered. He wanted to say, "If by okay, you mean no electricity, coffins everywhere, and yellow moons, yeah it was okay."

Yukari nodded, "I see. Never mind then." She smiled and said, "Well… I better get going."

As she started walking away from Minato, she stopped and turned around, "Umm…"

"Yes?" Minato responded.

"I'm sure you still have other questions, but let's save them for later, okay? Good night." She walked away for real this time.

Minato walked into his room, unpacked enough for him to be able to go to school the next morning and headed to bed.

"This day has been so weird," he mumbled, "I really need to see a psychiatrist to see why there are coffins in the road and why my dorm mates are holding guns."

The white-haired boy had walked up to Mitsuru, and held one of those guns up to her. She was sitting on the couch, contemplating about something.

"So, that's the transfer student? Seems okay when he walked in here… never mind," the boy said.

"It's nothing to worry about right now. Did it work this time? Is it still unstable?" She pointed at the other one, "You asked for another one of them the last time, who's it for?"

"I thougt about letting my sister know about us, since she's awake too, but then... I thought no...," the boy said. He continued, "I didn't try it here this time. I don't want to bring the whole place down, especially if the new kid was coming around. I didn't want him to come here and have me set the whole place on fire. Remember last time?" He looked at her with a serious face.

"Where are you going then?" Mitsuru asked. Mitsuru remembered making up an excuse for why the dorm was set on fire. She suggested to him, "You should stay here and get some rest."

Rion told her, "I should go see if he's still training. I'll go check on my sister before I come back too."

"I understand," Mitsuru nodded, "Just make sure you don't hurt yourself with that thing," pointing at the gun. She added, "Don't stay out long."

"The only person who's likely to hurt me is my sister. I am not looking for Shadows," as the boy shook his head, "I'll see you around, Mitsuru."

The white-haired boy walked out the door as Mitsuru sighed. He was rather arrogant when he wanted to be, and he wasn't shy about telling it like is. But, he could also be as scared as Yukari at the same time. He usually was more reserved anyways. Mitsuru needed some sleep becasue she didn't want to think about the fact that Yukari tried to evoke on the new transfer student and might have unless she had stopped her, "I hope they know what they're doing."

Minato woke up a little refreshed. He realized when he woke up in his bed in that drab room that it wasn't all a scary dream. There were a few furnishings, but it was nothing spectacular. There was a desk with a blue lamp, a bed, a mirror, and a sink. He had a small fridge and a calendar, which he wrote, "don't get shot by crazy girl today". Minato had washed up and put on another of his school uniforms. He only had about six hundred of those to wear. "I have so many choices of what I'm going to wear," Minato joked to himself before he got dressed. That's what he got when you lived in a place with mandatory dress code.

As he was fixing his hair… that's what you get when you need perfect hair all the time, Minato heard someone knock on his door. "It's Yukari. Are you awake?"

"One second," Minato responded as he opened the door and stepped aside.

"Okay…," Yukari responded as she walked into the room.

She was wearing the same clothes as last night. "How does that fit the dress code while I have to wear this ugly ass thing?" Minato thought to himself, "She's basically wearing nothing below that blouse."

Yukari had a cheerful look on her face. She looked much happier than last night. She didn't look as if she was going to shoot anybody today, which made Minato relax.

"Good morning. Did you sleep okay?" Yukari asked with a smile.

"I guess so," Minato answered. He was really thinking, "I just had nightmares of you shooting me."

Meanwhile, Yukari had continued, "Mitsuru-senpai had asked me to take you to school. It's getting late, so… Are you ready to go?" She asked Minato.

"Sure, why not," Minato responded. He thought he could find it on his own, but he didn't want to be rude.

"Okay. Then, let's go," Yukari basically pushed him out the door.

The pair boarded the rail towards this school where Minato would be attending for the next couple years. They passed skyscrapers and residential areas. Minato thought it was rather fancy and expensive. Yukari was busy explaining what it would be like to attend this school… This loaded school with everything and the kitchen sink in it.

"And that's it…," Yukari said, "There's nothing you can't do at this place."

"Really…," Minato said only half paying attention.

As the school came into focus, Yukari pointed out a large white complex, "See… there it is."

Minato turned his head towards the place. He knew it was going to be big, but this place was insane. It looked like it had acres of land around the school. There was multiple building as Yukari explained, but they were all huge. The largest was the one that Yukari said we would be attending; it was the one housing the upperclassmen.

"Damn…," Minato muttered.

Yukari chuckled, "I know… It's that big, huh?"

Minato soon found himself leaving the rail with Yukari and walking along the courtyard with her towards the central building. There seemed to be a lot of people headed along with him, and a lot of chatter back and forth.

"Man, are you ready?"

"Of course not!"

A bike whizzed by Minato and just about crashed into a trash can.

"Idiot… He should watch where he's going," Minato muttered.

Yukari seemed to be popular as she greeted various people along the way to school.

"Morning," a girl said.

"Morning," Yukari replied.

"How are you?" another girl asked.

"Good, how are you?" Yukari responded.

Yukari stopped right outside the gates and turned towards Minato and looked at him,

"Well this is it. We're here! Welcome to Gekkoukan High School." She smiled at him, "Hope you like it!" She walked through the gates and Minato followed.

The two stopped by the shoeboxes and Yukari asked, "You're okay from here, right?"

"I think so," Minato responded, "How will I find my homeroom?"

"Oh," Yukari thought for a second and then answered, "You should go see your homeroom teacher first. The faculty office is right over there to the left." She smiled, "And that concludes the tour. Do you have any questions before I go?"

"Which class are you in?" Minato asked.

"I don't know yet," Yukari said, "I haven't checked." She suddenly got serious and looked Minato straight in the eyes, "Hey… About last night… Don't tell anyone what you saw, okay?" She got cheerful again, "See you later." She walked off.

"I think the only person I might tell is the police," he thought to himself, "You were planning on shooting me."

Minato looked around. He was still confused by the layout of the school. There seemed to be stairs all over the place. There were hallways. Yukari said to go to the left, but there seemed to be students crowded around a bulletin board. So… Minato decided to go towards the bulletin board.

He couldn't find his name at first. "Must be because I'm a transfer student," he thought. He decided to look again. He saw a little sticky note with his name on it, "Minato Arisato" on the roster Class 2-F. He said to himself, "I should still go to the faculty office, I guess."

Minato walked his way down the "left" hallway where Yukari said the faculty office was supposed to be. He accidently walked into the nurse's office and the library before finding the faculty office. "Finally," he muttered.

He entered and saw a male teacher at a table and a female teacher checking files in front of the table. The female teacher turned her head and saw Minato. She was a brunette, in her mid-20's and wearing beige.

"Oh, are you the new student?" the female teacher asked.

Minato nodded, "I just got here last night."

"Minato Arisato, 11th grade, correct?" the female teacher said.

Minato nodded again in agreement.

She looked at his file and looked surprised, "Wow, you've lived in a lot of different places."

"Foster families…," Minato thought to himself.

She continued to read her file, "Let's see… in 1999… That was what, ten years ago? Your parents…" She suddenly freaked out after reading that last statement, "I'm sorry. I've been so busy, I didn't have time to read this beforehand."

"It's okay…," Minato answered.

"Okay, well, I'm Miss Toriumi. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school," She sounded relieved that she had not offended her new student as she introduced herself.

"It's nice to meet you then," Minato said.

"Well, it's nice to see a student with enthusiasm." Toriumi asked him, "Have you seen the classroom assignments?" When Minato nodded she just affirmed him, "You're in 2-F; that's my class. But first, we need to go to the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony should be starting soon." She gestured to Minato, "Follow me."

"Okay…," as Minato followed the teacher as he blindly followed his homeroom teacher. He thought, "Does anyone find this creepy?"

As he took a seat in the auditorium in the general area near where Toriumi was sitting, the Principal was about to come up. Minato guessed that this was where 2-F students sat for the different ceremonies and whatnot. He felt like falling back to sleep because truthfully, he didn't sleep well. Minato had felt like he was being watched last night.

The principal had gotten up to the microphone and started talking. He sounded like a Scottish bagpipes with a hole in the bag, "As you begin the new school year. I'd like each of you to remember the proverb, "If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well." When applied to student life, this means…" Minato had tuned him out by then, "I wish I had brought my MP3 player…"

Another classmate tapped Minato on the shoulder, "Psst… Hey!"

"Hmm…, what?" Minato asked.

"You came to school with Yukari this morning, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Minato responded.

The student nodded, "I saw you two walking together. Hey, I have a question."

"Yeah, what is it?" Minato was getting annoyed.

"Do you know if she has a boyfriend?" the student asked.

Minato wasn't really sure, so he said, "I don't know."

"I see…," the kid responded, "I thought you might know, but… I guess not."

Minato shrugged, and the kid continued, "So, how well do you know her?"

Minato was about to answer that she lives in his dorm and only a floor away when another teacher said, "I hear talking. I believe it's someone in Ms. Toriumi's class."

The kid quickly backed away from Minato's seat as Toriumi said, "Shh! Be quiet! You're going to get me in trouble!"

Minato couldn't help but chuckle. There were more than enough people talking throughout the auditorium. The principal must have been that boring. He glanced off to the side and saw some people sleeping. Minato was jealous. He couldn't wait until the convocation was over, or until the first day was over, for that matter.

After the convocation, the first day wasn't very exciting. It was mainly just an orientation day. At the end of the day, Minato was just sitting in his seat. When he got up, he was immediately assaulted… well not assaulted, but confronted by a kid in an ugly navy hat and garish purple backpack.

"This guy needs some fashion sense," Minato thought to himself.

"'Sup dude!" the student asked him.

"You… I guess," he responded.

"How's it going?" the student asked again.

"He doesn't know how to quit…," Minato thought. He answered politely, "I'm doing alright. Who are you?"

The kid looked confused for a second, "Me?" He then said, "I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet you. I transferred here when I was in 8th grade. I know how tough it is being the new kid. So… I wanted to say "hey". See what a nice guy I am!"

"Sure," Minato said, hiding his sarcasm.

Just then, as Minato had answered Junpei, Yukari walked over to the two of them. Junpei said with an overexcited exuberance, "Hey, it's Yuka-tan! I didn't think we'd be in the same class again."

"At it again, huh?" Yukari shook her head, "I swear, you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen. Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?"

"Oh, don't be so hard on Junpei…," a voice came over from the other side of Junpei. It was the white-haired boy from last night, "He's just attempting to be a nice person, introducing himself."

"Yeah, I just being friendly Yuka-tan," Junpei explained, "Don't you think Kaien?"

"If you say so…," Yukari said.

"He's trying," Minato said.

"See, he agrees," Junpei smiled.

Yukari smiled at Minato, "Anyways, looks like we're in the same homeroom…"

Minato nodded and smiled, "Yeah, I know…"

"Funny, huh?" Yukari asked.

"Wished my sister wasn't here…," Kaien muttered.

Junpei voiced his thoughts, "Um, hello? Are you forgetting that I'm in this class too?" Junpei suddenly had this evil smile on his face, "By the way, I heard you two came to school together this morning." Junpei asked inquisitively, "What's up with that? C'mon, give me the dirt!"

Kaien and Minato just rolled his eyes as Yukari was taken aback, "Wh… What are you talking about!" She explained, "We live in the same dorm. There's nothing going on, okay?" She looked annoyed, "Why are people even talking about it! Now you have me worried…" Yukari looked at Minato with one of her serious looks, "Hey… You didn't say anything to anyone about… you know what, did you?"

"No, of course not," Minato answered, "You told me not to."

Yukari sounded relieved, "Okay, good." She said to Minato as she pleaded, "Seriously… Don't say anything about last night, okay?"

This definitely got Junpei's attention. "What!"

"What!" Yukari just realized where Junpei's thoughts were at.

"L… Last night?" Junpei said slowly.

Yukari freaked out. She said quickly and tried to block out Junpei's perverted thoughts, "Wait a minute! Don't get the wrong idea!" She yelled at Junpei, "Listen! I just met him yesterday, and there's absolutely nothing between us!" She shook her head, "Geez…"

"I'm so heartbroken," Minato said sarcastically.

Kaien chuckled, "I would be too."

Yukari shook her head at the two and said, "I've gotta go. I've got to take care of something for the archery team." She looked at Junpei, pointed at him, and said, "You better not start any rumors."

Junpei sighed, "Ah, who cares? No one takes rumors seriously, anyway."

"You seem to, Junpei," Kaien said.

Junpei gave Kaien a look, "Still, she's so paranoid."

"She's popular," Minato said, "She doesn't want her image tarnished."

Junpei nodded, and gave Minato a look, "Hey, it's first your day here and people are already talking about you! You're right, she's pretty popular! You da man!"

"I'm sure," Minato shook his head.

Junpei ignored his sarcasm and had a smile on his face, "Heheh, this is going to be a fun year. I can feel it!" He was chuckling as he said it.

"So… are we going to go back?" Minato asked.

"Yeah, I'll show you around!" Junpei exclaimed, "I'll show you all the best places as we head back."

Kaien rolled his eyes, "There isn't that much to see."

"That's only because you find certain things boring," Junpei responded.

Minato chuckled at Junpei's response and Kaien's sigh.

"Like girls," Minato added, "I heard from someone in class that you're into boys."

"If that was my sister, I'm sure she spewed that bullshit all day," Kaien responded.

Junpei had exploded out in laughter, "This is great."

The three passed the front gates, saying goodbye to Toriumi as they left, and looking at the cheery blossoms in bloom. Kaien saw two girls swooning over a young man in a red vest and just rolled his eyes.

"Jealous, much?" Minato asked.

That caused a punch being directed from Kaien towards Minato. Maybe it was going to be fun between these three guys.

"Holy…!" Minato exclaimed, "Watch where you're going!" as the track team nearly bowled him over on the way out of the school.

"Yeah, they're kind of like that," Junpei agreed.

The three walked through Paulownia Mall, and though they felt like wasting time singing karaoke, Kaien and Minato decided to leave Junpei behind and head back to their dorm.

By the time Minato had gotten back to the dorm, Mitsuru was already waiting for him.

"How'd she get here so quickly?" he wondered.

"Welcome back," she greeted him.

"Thanks," Minato answered.

Minato still felt rather tired from his scare last night. He didn't get to sleep during the convocation either. Therefore, he went straight to bed after being greeted by Mitsuru.

"Ooh… fluffy pillow," Minato muttered as he hit his bed and fell asleep.

Mitsuru was reading a book on the couch when the young man in the red vest and carrying a black coat over his shoulder approached her. He had silver hair and told

Mitsuru, as she was engrossed in the book, said distracted, "I'm going out for a bit."

She turned her attention to him, "Hm…?"

He looked at her like she was clueless, "Didn't you see the newspaper? There's a lot going on."

"I know…," Mitsuru responded, "People who had no problems before are suddenly developing acute cases of Apathy Syndrome." Mitsuru told it like it was common knowledge, "I've seen it in the news quite often recently. They say it's due to stress, but…"

"Yeah, right. It has to be THEM," the young man shook his head, "Otherwise, it's not worth my time."

She looked at him askance, "You have a one track mind. Are you going to be okay on your own?" Mitsuru asked. She said, "The Chairman will be here for the next few days, but after that, I can…"

The young man shook his head, "Don't worry. I'm just getting in a little practice."

Mitsuru huffed, "This isn't a game, Akihiko." She kept reading her book. She rolled her eyes, "I wish I could send Kaien with him, or that I could go myself. Akihiko is too reckless. He's going to get himself hurt." She shuddered, "No, I shouldn't send Kaien. He'd kill both of them."

Minato spent a night of where he got a decent amount of sleep. He had fewer nightmares, but he still felt like he was being watched. As long as he wasn't dreaming of people shooting him; he could at least get some quality REM sleep.

Minato decided he would walk to school by himself. "I feel like a big boy today," he muttered sarcastically as he passed the school gates.

As he walked by the school gates, girls were talking about… something about a first-year student, Minato guessed. He heard from them that she had some kind of weird affliction that made you stare at walls, and say "Its coming!"

"Weird…," Minato muttered as the late bell rung and he ran towards class, "At least she's getting out of school."

School was in full swing now, and Minato had to start worrying about classes. Some of the teachers were just lecturing today, and Minato pretty much zoned out during those classes. Minato laughed, however, when Toriumi's class came around. She asked the class to take out a novel by one author, grumbled about it, and then explained why she wanted to teach about another. He believed that she was going to be his favorite teacher for the year.

Suddenly, Toriumi yelled at Junpei, who wasn't listening, "Are you listening! Who did I say was my favorite author?"

Minato decided Junpei wasn't the brightest bulb in the room right then and there as he was struggling, "Huh? Umm…" He turned towards Minato, "Psst! Who does she like?"

"What!" Now the pressure was on Minato to get it right. "Oh great… umm…," Minato thought about what the hell Toriumi had been talking about the past ten minutes. "Otsubo Kubota," Minato told Junpei.

Junpei told the composition teacher the answer, and it was the correct one, which Minato felt proud of. Of course Toriumi was happy, happy for Junpei.

"So you were listening after all, Junpei!" Toriumi praised him.

Junpei nodded and said, "Eheheh… Well, you know how I like to pay attention." He turned back to Minato, "Man, you saved me Minato."

"You're welcome," Minato responded. He rolled his eyes, "I wish he wouldn't gloat so much."

Minato decided to walk back on his own today. He went through Iwatodai and passed a small bookstore that seemed to carry manga, a burger restaurant named after a duck, and other stores and stands.

When he got back Yukari was sitting there on the couch closest to the reception area, Kaien was sitting on the couch across from her, and there was an older man with brown hair, a receding hairline, and wearing a brown suit. He had glasses on as well that kept slipping down his face.

"Oh, he's back," Yukari said as Minato entered the dorm.

"So, this is our new guest," the older man said.

All three of them stood up and walked over to speak to Minato. The older man was standing in front of both of the other students, who stayed near the couches.

"Good evening," the man said, "My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I am the Chairman of the Board for your school. "Ikutsuki". Hard to say… isn't it?" he asked Minato

"Not really…," Minato said.

"Well, even I get tongue-tied sometimes, so I don't like introducing myself too often," Ikutsuki said.

"And yet you do…," Kaien muttered.

He gestured towards the couches, "Please, have a seat."

Minato sat alongside Yukari as the Chairman sat back down.

The Chairman said, "I apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations.

However, it may take a while longer before you receive your proper room assignment." He gave an open look at Minato, "Is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"Is this a good idea?" Yukari thought, "Anything… he wants to know?"

Minato thought for a second and said, "No, I'm good." He thought that they wouldn't tell him anything if he asked about all the weird stuff going on in here anyways. He didn't think he would tell him why they carried guns around. He bet that Mitsuru and Kaien carried them too, and that scared him.

"Then I hope you have a good and successful school year," the Chairman said, "Now, if you'll excuse me…" the Chairman got up from his seat, "You must be tired from all the excitement. You should go to bed early. As they say, "The early bird catches the bookworm!" Please forgive the pun." He was chuckling as he was saying his joke.

"Your jokes are terrible, Chairman," Kaien said. He was anything but laughing as the Chairman walked off. Kaien followed.

Yukari and Minato looked at each other. Yukari sighed, "Yeah, you'll get used to his lame jokes."

"I'm sure. Is he always like that?" Minato asked.

"Pretty much," Yukari said.

"Great…," Minato muttered.

Minato went to bed about right after the conversation with Yukari. He was sleeping peacefully this time. Nothing was bothering him tonight. Unfortunately for him, Yukari, Kaien, and Mitsuru were all monitoring him from a secure room. He was being watched after all!

"Working hard?" the Chairman asked as he entered the room, "So, how's he doing?"

Mitsuru and Yukari stood up to face the Chairman to give their report, while Kaien was already standing. He just turned around. Mitsuru spoke first, "He went to bed a little while ago. He's asleep now."

Ikutsuki sat down on one of the plush cushions on the back of the room.

Mitsuru continued and asked with concern, "Mr. Chairman, do you think he's…?"

"Well… let's wait and see for now. The Dark Hour is approaching," he answered, "By the way, Kaien, how it is working for you. Is it stable enough for use?"

Kaien shook his head, "Not quite. Half the times it works perfectly, the other times it causes a raging fireball which either singes my eyebrows or sets my hair on fire."

"That's too bad," Ikutsuki said, "We'll have to wait and see if you can get it under control." Ikutsuki rolled his eyes as if he didn't believe it.

"Anyways… watch," Kaien sighing. The group turned as Midnight approached, "Watch the fun begin."

Around the dark sides of Port Tatsumi, a group of teenagers and drop-outs were partying, drinking, and were just trying to have a good time. The party was fizzling out as the night was getting late as some of the girls left and threw their beers off to the side. They had school to get to the next day, and they had work to finish. A remnant of a beer with a little in it hit the foot of a Gekkoukan male student. He was still dressed up, rapidly texting, and didn't appreciate being hit by a beer can. As he stood up and yawned, his phone hit 12:00 AM, and then went blank. The moon turned yellow, and the guy looked around in complete surprise. There were coffins everywhere. The guy seemed scared speechless. He was hyperventilating, and the phone slipped from his fingers. He put his hands to face as black ooze hit the ground. It was coming from his forehead, and he was trying to hold it in. The ooze was running down his face rapidly now and he screamed as he collapsed.

At the dorm, they were still observing Minato as he lay in bed.

"Hmm… he's still sleeping," The Chairman observed, "The Dark Hour occurs every day at Midnight and it's called by some the "hidden hour" The normal person during this time transforms into a coffin, and is oblivious to everything around them."

Yukari deduced, "Then, he must be…"

The Chairman continued, "As you can see, he's retained his human form. He's asleep, but he's experiencing the Dark Hour. The only question that remains is that he if has the potential."

"He should," Kaien said, looking at the Chairman, "Wouldn't they have taken him by now otherwise?"

Ikutsuki nodded, "He must have it."

"That's a scary thought," Yukari said, looking at Mitsuru.

They all turned back to the screen to view Minato sleeping. The Chairman spoke, "In any case, we should continue to monitor him for a few more days."

"Yes, Sir," Mitsuru responded.

"So much for moving him to a new dorm," Kaien muttered, "Sucks for him."

Yukari voiced an issue, "I feel kinda bad, though, spying on him like this."

Minato was sleeping peacefully, getting his nice dreamless sleep, until… he saw a tiled floor rushing at him. At the end of the tiles, he went flying into a blue door. Thankfully, the door was open.

Inside, well how could Minato explain it? It looked like an elevator shaft made out of a weird blue color. Sitting in an old-looking chair was an old, short man wearing black with the longest nose that Minato had ever seen. To the right of the man, facing towards him, was a creepily pretty girl. She had odd, yet seductive yellow eyes. She had bowl-cut platinum blond hair, and was wearing a short-blue dress that didn't even come down to her knees. It was like a silver-haired Yukari wearing a blue-dress.

There was a clock in the elevator room that kept spinning and spinning. Minato decided it had to be off because it was spinning way too fast.

The creepy old nose guy suddenly said, "Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear young man."

Minato found himself sitting across from the pair. "What the hell is this?" Minato muttered.

"My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance," Igor greeted him.

"Umm… hello," Minato responded.

Igor gestured towards the girl, "This is Elizabeth. She's a resident here, like myself."

"Okay… hi," Minato said. He thought, "You must get bored. I don't want to know what you two do on the weekends."

"Pleased to meet you," Liz said in a rather unique voice.

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It's been years since we've had a guest," Igor explained. He sounded excited.

"I think you must have scared them all away," Minato thought.

Suddenly, the little contract thingy that Minato just signed on a whim appeared in front of Igor. "Shit! I knew I shouldn't have signed that!" he thought, "Stupid kid!"

Igor explained, "Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place. Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room." He continued, "You are destined to hone your unique abilities and you will require my help to do so."

"Okay then… I'll make use of that," Minato said sarcastically.

Igor ignored him, "I'll only ask one thing in return."

"And that is?" Minato asked.

"That you abide by the contract and assume responsibility for the choices you make," Igor explained.

"I understand, I guess," Minato nodded.

"Hold onto this," Igor said as he gave something to Minato. Igor gave Minato a key made out of was it felt, no it was velvet. "Ooh, so soft," Minato thought.

The rest of Minato's night was nice and restful.

Minato walked to school, and met Junpei outside. Junpei was way too cheerful as usual. He went on about how it was a perfect day and such.

"So, you don't want to be here, do you?" Minato asked.

"'Course not," Junpei answered, "I'd rather be off doing something!"

Minato didn't pay much attention in his classes as usual today. That weird dream made him drowsy for some reason. Mr. Ekoda, the Classical Lit. Teacher bugged him. Minato didn't really care too much about learning about Japanese authors at this point. He'd rather sleep this morning. So, he slept through class, until Ekoda yelled at him.

Minato went home with Junpei again. Minato almost felt like going to a movie near the train station, but he didn't think his wallet could take it. Besides, it wasn't like he could get a job anyways.

Minato couldn't do anything exciting when he got back regardless. He was grabbed a book, it was called Analytical Sciences of something or other. "Must be Mitsuru's," Minato thought. He read it for a while until he got drowsy and then headed to bed.

Midnight soon approached and the three of them plus the Chairman were still observing Minato.

"How is he?" the Chairman asked when he came in.

Mitsuru turned her head towards the Chairman from her chair and answered, "The same as last night."

The Chairman sat down on the cushion, next to Kaien, "Hmm… Very interesting. Even those who have the potential tend to be unstable at first." He looked at Kaien, "Memory loss… disorientation…"

"I just can't control the damn thing," Kaien muttered.

Ikutsuki continued, "But, this subject is rather unique. He hasn't exhibited any of the common symptoms."

Yukari shook her head, "But, we're treating him like a guinea pig."

The Chairman tried to calm her, "I understand your concern, but it's imperative that we recruit new members. I heard he's your classmate. Wouldn't you be more comfortable working with someone from the same grade?"

"And what am I? Chopped liver?" Kaien muttered.

"Yours does not work, remember?" Ikutsuki reminded him.

Kaien rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but still…," Yukari sounded unsure.

At that moment, a noise rang out in the room signaling a communication from someone else outside of the dorm.

Mitsuru took control as she answered the response, "Command room. Is that you, Akihiko?"

Akihiko sounded flustered as he answered, "You're not going to believe this! This thing's huge! Unfortunately, I don't have the time to talk. It's chasing me. I wanted to let you guys know. I'm almost there."

At the end of the communication, everyone freaked out at his remarks.

"Does that mean… he's bringing that thing here!" Yukari asked.

"He's leading it towards us," Kaien tried to say calmly, "Great…" He did not look calm at all. He looked a bit flustered.

Mitsuru stood up and turned towards Ikutsuki, "Mr. Chairman! Let's suspend our observations for now. We'll prepare for battle."

The Chairman said nervously, "R… Right! Be careful!"

All three of the students ran from the observation room to the front door where Akihiko had just come in. He was clutching his left arm and was obviously in pain.

"Akihiko!" Mitsuru exclaimed in worry as they ran towards him.

As Yukari checked up on him, Ikutsuki arrived and Akihiko grunted in pain. "Senpai!" Yukari exclaimed in worry.

"I'm alright," Akihiko tried to calm her down. But he warned them with a smirk, "Get ready to be surprised. It'll be here any second now."

"This is no time to joke around!" Mitsuru yelled at him as she walked up to him.

Ikutsuki looked worriedly at the silver-haired boy, "It's one of them, Akihiko?"

Akihiko nodded, "It's not an ordinary one."

A large noise rang out through the dorm. It shook the foundations of the building. It was definitely what was chasing Akihiko. It was one that scared Yukari and unnerved Kaien.

"Ahh!" Yukari freaked, "What the! You've got to be kidding me!" She was definitely intimidated by whatever kind of "Shadow" Akihiko brought to the dorm.

Mitsuru drew her gun, looked at Ikutsuki and said, "Mr. Chairman, please head for the command room!" She then turned toward Yukari and said, "Takeba, go upstairs and wake him up! Then, escape out the back!"

"But… what about you three?" Yukari asked.

"We'll stop it here," Mitsuru said simply, "You led it to us, Akihiko, so I'm afraid you'll have to fight."

Akihiko looked pissed, "Like I had a choice, Mitsuru."

"I guess I have no choice either," Kaien muttered as he drew his own gun, "Let's pray it works."

"Me too," Mitsuru said to the white-haired boy.

Akihiko yelled at Yukari, who hadn't moved yet, "What are you waiting for Yukari! Go!"

"I'm g… going!" Yukari suddenly said as she broke out her reverie.

She started running up the stairs. Minato, however, was already awake due to the fact that the dorm was already nearly torn down by one of THEM. "What the hell was that!" Minato said to himself. He quickly threw on his clothes and prepared for earthquake safety. That would have been a good idea, if… he had bothered to prepare for it beforehand, like tying things down. Minato did hear a lot of talking and crashes, so he got curious and took a look.

Before he got to the door, however, there was a knock on the door. It was Yukari, "Wake up!"

"I'm up," he answered, "Who wouldn't be with all this noise?"

She must not have heard due to the noise because she said, "Sorry! I'm coming in!"

"They must have keys to the rooms or something," Minato thought, "That's creepy." He thought of Yukari sneaking up to him in his sleep and well… okay that was not a bad thing.

Yukari was trying to hurry as she dragged him away from the mirror, "I don't have time to explain. We have to get out of here, now!"

"Okay, okay… I'm coming," Minato said.

"Oh, before we go," Yukari suddenly stopped, "Here… take this." She handed Minato a short sword.

"What the hell is this?" Minato thought, "Why am I getting a sword? What the hell am I going to do with this? Stab myself in the foot?"

Regardless, they ran out of the room. Another huge crash shook the foundations of the building as they reached the stairwell. It stopped the pair in their tracks.

"Hurry! Downstairs! We'll leave through the back door!" Yukari explained.

The two of them ran from the back of the 2nd floor, down the stairs, to the back door. Minato just realized how out of shape he was for he was sucking air through his lungs. Yukari explained as they got there, "Alright, we should be safe now…"

Yukari's communicator went off, it was Mitsuru. "Takeba, do you read me?" she said.

"Yes… I hear you!" Yukari responded.

Mitsuru warned, "Be careful! There's more than one enemy! The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!"

"What!" Yukari exclaimed. At that moment, a huge crash came right through the back door they were supposed to escape through. When they took a step back, two more loud slams were echoed into the door.

"Let's pull back!" Yukari was nervous and scared.

"Where can we go?" Minato asked, "Back upstairs?"

The two started running back up the stairs when they heard more crashes. Yukari asked, "What are we going to do? They're downstairs!"

"We have to go up," Minato said. If Yukari was not going to be any help, then he would to take control.

As they ran up another floor, more crashes were heard, "Whoa!" Yukari screamed, "What are we going to do?"

"Keep going up!" Minato explained.

As the pair climbed to the 4th floor, Yukari and Minato heard breaking glass from below.

"What was that!" Yukari asked.

"I'm not sure," Minato said. He thought, "I don't know what the hell is going on, remember?"

"It's getting closer!" Yukari exclaimed.

"What's getting closer?" Minato asked.

"K… Keep moving! Hurry!" Yukari commanded.

They climbed up to the top floor, and Yukari noticed the exit to the roof. "Oh yeah… If we go out through here!"

"We can jump off the roof to our deaths!" Minato muttered.

The two of them went through the door and Yukari locked it afterwards. "Now we have nowhere to escape to if they come after us," Minato thought.

Yukari took a deep breath, "I think we're okay for now."

"You sure?" Minato asked. Minato was uneasy.

Of course, that was followed by another crash against the building, and then another.

Yukari's phone went off; it was Kaien, "It's coming up the walls! Get away from the rooftop!"

They turned around in fear as something grabbed onto the ledge of the roof with a black and slimy hand. Then, another hand reached the edge, and then another…? Minato was confused as about six oozing hands latched on, and a seventh was holding a mask and looking around. He guessed that was its face, maybe?

"So, is it looking around with its mask?" Minato was thinking.

And from all of its oozing hands, came swords. The oozing creature came barreling towards Yukari and Minato.

As Yukari shakily stood in front of Minato, she said nervously, "Those monsters… We c… call them Shadows."

"Shadows…?" Minato wondered.

That "Shadow" was charging at them fast, with all of its swords bared. Yukari pulled out her gun, and to Minato's surprise… pointed it at her forehead. "What the fuck is she doing!" Minato thought.

As the Shadow all but reached them, Yukari tried to squeeze the trigger. She hesitated for only a moment when an icicle from the Shadow shot out. That hesitation from Yukari allowed the Shadow to strike the gun from her hand, and she hit the ground. The gun slid to Minato's feet.

Minato stared at the gun and Yukari. She wasn't moving. Should he pick the gun up? The Shadow was behind him. It was coming.

Minato heard a voice in his head, "Go on…"

Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Ikutsuki were all watching Minato from the conference/stalker room. They had sent Kaien earlier to help Yukari and Minato, but he wasn't able to get through.

"There!" Akihiko said, viewing Minato in front of the gun. The others looked at Akihiko. Akihiko and Mitsuru both were about to run out door when the Chairman stopped them. "Wait!" he said. Akihiko and Mitsuru stopped in their tracks and turned.

Minato had picked up the gun. He noticed earlier that if Yukari was about to shoot herself for some reason, maybe it would help him to shoot himself. "Or, it would be a quick way out," Minato thought.

So, Minato put the gun to the right side of where his parietal lobe would be, and took a deep breath… "Per… Son… A" He fired.

The resulting blast was of epic proportions. A Persona had appeared from the shot and Yukari could only look on. A voice rang out, maybe from the Persona, "Thou art I, and I am thou! From the sea of thy soul I come forth. I am Orpheus, master of strings." The Persona had a lyre on its back, and was humanoid, of course.

Mitsuru said from the room, "It's as we suspected." Akihiko could only look on.

Orpheus was still advancing towards the Shadow that had attacked Yukari when Minato suddenly grasped his head in pain. Orpheus suddenly grimaced in pain as well and started changing. Orpheus' mouth opened and screamed. It transformed violently into a monster-god with about 8 chained wings, and a long sword. He had fangs instead of a mouth now, and could no longer speak. Minato regained control of his mind as the new Persona charged the Shadow.

As the Shadow was about to attack, the Persona grabbed part of the fast-moving Shadow, holding it down. The creature took his long sword and sliced right through the Shadow's own swords and mask. The Shadow screamed in pain.

Yukari gasped as part of it landed near her and started dissolving. Yukari wouldn't say it, but this black and grim "Persona" terrified her. It still had a little bit of the Shadow in its hand, and he took it and squeezed it until it squished between his fingers.

The "Persona" was still in the middle of the sky, sword in the air, when it suddenly reverted to its original form.

This fight between Minato and the Shadows on the rooftop had quite the effect on the others in the room as well.

Mitsuru was speechless while Akihiko asked, "What on earth was that!"

The Chairman was unable to put words to it either.

Yukari and Minato were waiting around. Minato had dispelled Orpheus. It had taken a strain on his body.

"Is it over?" Yukari asked, out of breath. Roars were heard just after that, scaring Yukari.

"I guess not," Minato answered her, pulling out the gun-thingy that belonged to Yukari. There were more slimy Shadows waiting for him.

"Let's see what I can do…," Minato said as the two monsters attacked.

They had similar masks to the one that was just killed. "Persona!" Minato yelled as he shot himself. Orpheus appeared and he found out what he was capable of. At first, he used Orpheus's lyre to "Bash!" a Shadow over the head.

The Shadows must not have liked seeing one of their kin being squished by a lyre as one of them charged Minato.

"Oh, no you don't," Minato jumped away from their slimy hands and stabbed out with his short sword to pierce the Shadow.

Minato gave out a yell and as the Shadow that had charged died, he charged himself and stabbed the final Shadow in the mask.

"It's over," Minato said finally, sheathing his blade.

With Yukari still on her knees, Minato suddenly collapsed, emitting a cry from Takeba. "Are you okay?" She shook Minato, "Come on!" She shook him again, "Say something!"

It was at this point when they finally broke through the door. Mitsuru and Akihiko ran up to Yukari.

"Are you alright!" Akihiko asked.

"Can you hear me!" Yukari shook Minato again, "Please! Answer me!"

* * *

Minato wasn't waking up. In fact, he was returning to the tiled hallway towards the "Velvet Room". "I hope I remembered my key," Minato muttered.

"It's so nice to see you again," Igor said. He had ended up across from Igor and Liz, in the Velvet Room. It didn't matter that the Velvet Key was still in his room with the fact that there was probably only one floor left in the dorm now.

Igor continued, "You became unconscious after awakening to your "power". It's nothing to worry about, though. So, just relax."

"That's a relief," Minato said.

"By the way… I see that it was Orpheus that heeded your calling. That power is called a Persona… It is a manifestation of your psyche.

"Persona?" Minato asked.

"It may take some time to comprehend," Igor explained, "A Persona is a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli."

"That's helpful," Minato said, even more confused.

Igor continued, with more information, "You can think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships." Igor then said, "That being said, your power is still weak."

"Weak?" Minato asked.

"When you use your Persona ability, you channel your inner strength. The ability evolves as you develop your "Social Links", your emotional ties with others. The stronger your social links, the more powerful your Persona ability. Please remember that," Igor explained.

"I'll try," Minato said.

Igor continued, "Now, then… Time marches on in your world. I shouldn't keep your here any longer. Next time you come here, you will come here of your own accord."

"My own accord, huh?" Minato said, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Until, then…," Igor said, "Farewell."

Minato was finally waking up from his dream.

Time to revise and rework as I work on multiple stories at once.


End file.
